Five raptors lead by Bojay and Bria jump into a small planetary system. The three planets in the system orbited a small sun. A small habitable planet had the furthest orbit while two desolate planets sat nearer to the star. At the edge of the system sat a small asteroid belt. While two of the raptors broke away to head for the asteroids, Bojay led the others towards the planet.

"Okay boys and girls you all know your areas, let's make lots of low passes and take as many readings as we possibly can." Bria said.

Bojay flew the Raptor through the atmosphere at the top of the small world and began to take readings. The last week had been hard on the Raptor squadrons of Orion. They had been sent out every day looking for anything that could be useful. Bojay had put himself and Bria up for nearly every search mission as he felt the need to lead by example since the commander had been killed. Archangel and some other viper jocks had even been helping out to try and lighten the load. When astrometrics had found this system it seemed that the long hours of searching might finally be about to end.

"How does it look?" Bojay asked.

"Very very good." Bria replied, "The ice from the northern pole can be taken to the ships and melted down. The next continent down is rich with vegetation and fresh water as well, we've hit the jackpot."

"About fraking time." Bojay replied clearly relieved.

On Orion Archangel walked towards the Commander's quarters ready for the morning meeting. Commander Garrett had taken her time to move into them. She had packed all of Johannsen's things in her off hours and had placed them safely into storage. She hadn't wanted to move in at all, but knew she had to. Archangel had tried to help her but she had refused point blank. Since she had become the CO she had distanced herself from any personal dealings with the crew. He had been impressed with how she had handled the transition to commanding officer. Mike had made things a little easier for her by delivering twenty-five EMP warheads, which she had distributed between Orion and the four Gunstars. As he reached her quarters he greeted the two marines standing guard who both let him in. Colonel Rae was already there and to his surprise so was the President.

"Sorry I'm late." He said sitting down, "There have been some problems installing the gun cameras on the new vipers."

"Don't worry about it Major." Garrett said sitting down and handing him a coffee.

"Thank you." He said as he took a sip out of the oversized mug.

"I'm sorry to have crashed your morning meeting but I have received some disturbing news that I needed to share with you." The president said, "My aide found these yesterday." He handed each of the officers and leaflet that read 'NCO – Learn the Truth'. Inside were personal details about some of the Quorum, things that they would not want people to know. As well as details on the 'New Colonial Order' and their plans for peace and harmony throughout the fleet.

"This is not good." Rae said.

"I doubt the representative for Libran wanted us all to know that?" Archangel said with a look of shock on his face.

"Whoever this NCO is, they're trying to rock the boat and they're succeeding," the president replied, "There have already been calls for these five members of the Quorum to be replaced."

"Do we know anything about them at all?" Garrett asked.

"No, only what it says here in the leaflet. But it worries me that there are people out there who have been planning this. It says at the end that this is only the start. If they're prepared to shame these people like this, then I do not look forward to seeing what the next step is." He replied.

"What do you intend to do with the five people named in here?" Rae asked.

"I've already spoken to them and they have handed in their resignations. Their replacements are being looked into. A government scandal at this stage is the last thing we needed." Milo said.

"What do you want us to do about this?" Garrett asked.

"There isn't much we can do for now. There is no way to find out where these came from. All I would ask for you to do is keep listening into the fleets chatter, see if anyone mentions the NCO at all." Milo replied.

"Of course." Garrett replied.

Lieutenant Mac "Underdog" Jennis piloted his Raptor through the small asteroid belt.

"The scans are picking up zilch on metallic ore." His ECO Ensign Beth "Animal" Turner said from the back.

"See if Acid has found anything." Underdog replied.

"Acid this is Animal, any joy with the scans?" she asked.

"Animal this is Acid negative on the scans, do you want to rejoin the others?"

Underdog thought for a few moments, "No, let's go check out that moon, call it a hunch."

"That's a negative Acid, Underdog wants us to take a quick look at that moon." Animal responded.

"No problem." Came the reply.

The two raptors flew back out from the asteroids and headed the short journey to the small moon and began to scan again.

"Wonder how come this is all the way out here on it's own?" Underdog said.

"No idea." Animal replied, "After some of the things we've seen on these scouting missions over the last week I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess."

As the Raptors began their sweep the monitors in front of Animal began to beep.

"Oh man that was one hell of a good hunch." Animal said, "This little moon is full of ore, enough to build a frak load more vipers and raptors."

Underdog smiled to himself, "Let's head over to the planet and tell Bojay what we've found."

News of the successful Raptor recon mission, was met with the return of high spirits throughout the battle group. The last few weeks had offered nothing but disaster followed by disaster. Bojay sat in the wardroom with the Commander, XO, Archangel and President.

"While the asteroid field was a bust the moon near it wasn't," Bojay said showing a picture of the solitary moon, "Readings indicate that there should be enough metal ore throughout to be able to make dozens of vipers or raptors. The planet is full of everything you can think of, water, fruit etc there is even fields of grain. If I didn't know better already I would say that farmers lived there. All in all there is enough here to top us up and keep us going for a long time. The system as we thought is very small, should the Cylons find us then they would be right on top of us before we know it. I would suggest that we only take those who are necessary into the system and take the fleet somewhere else."

"There are people in the fleet who already have been asking if they can get time on the planet." Milo said.

"I'm not sure that's the greatest of ideas." Garrett said, "We don't want to get caught having to ferry people back and forward should the toasters show up."

"Never the less I doubt that is going to stop people from wanting to go down and stretch their legs." Milo replied.

"I'll leave the decision up to you Mr President," Garrett said, "Let us know what you decide and we will figure out the easiest way of getting people on and off."

The pilots briefing room was full of new recruits for vipers and raptors. When a call went out across the fleet asking if anyone wanted to join up, there had been some surprise that so many people had responded. Archangel in particular had not expected much in the way of a reply. Lieutenant Paul "Scud" Wilson had pulled the short straw and was the trainer of new pilots. Before being assigned to Orion this had been his job on Caprica, he had requested the job on Orion, as he had wanted to get back into the cockpit. For those who didn't know him, he was one of the most imposing people on the whole ship. At just over six foot he was pure muscle. With his closely shaved head he also had a look that would scare the life out of most people. His gruff voice to most was scary enough without his shouting. These nuggets had been with him for nearly two weeks now and had all learned quickly that to mess with him or give him the slightest amount of crap or it would result in the most frightening talking down they had ever received.

"While we are in the system we will have plenty of time for you to all be in the cockpit. We will use this asteroid belt. We will have training runs from one side to the other. This will help you avoiding random fast moving objects. A raiders movement is random, every one is different, and you cannot predict where they will be or what they will do." Scud said.

He stopped talking as Archangel walked in, the nuggets hadn't noticed, "CAG ON DECK." He bellowed.

All the nuggets quickly stood to attention.

"At ease." Archangel said as he walked to the front of the room, "How's it all going?"

"Well," Scud replied, "They're coming along well."

"Excellent. What would you think about giving them some time in the CAP?" he asked.

"Yes sir, they'll be fine with that." Scud replied.

The nuggets all began to look a little worried.

"Good I thought it would be a good chance for them to experience it while things are quiet." Archangel said.

"I'm also having them practice manoeuvrers throughout the asteroid field." Scud replied.

"Excellent. You two," Archangel said pointing at two pilots in the front row, "Skids up in forty minutes."

"Yes sir." They both replied nervously.

Three days later the supply missions were underway. The mining ships in the fleet were all at the moon drilling for the metal ore under the protection of the Gunstars. Orion sat in an orbit around the planet while the rest of the fleet sat in the small system. Supply ships and shuttles moved from and to the planet, taking its natural resources away and taking civilians down to the surface for some time on the small planet.

Bojay and Bria touched down at the edge of the small civilian camp. Bria quickly stepped out of the back and smiled as she felt the warmth of the sun on her face.

"This is nice." She said sitting down on the grass.

"It feels like a lifetime ago that I last saw the sun." Bojay replied.

In front of them there was a large area where the civilians were and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Bria sat down in the grass.

"Just being on a planet and not having to take anti radiation meds is going to be nice." Bria said.

"So is this all you pilots do these days?"

They both looked up to see Skeeter walk over to them. Bria smiled and got up to hug him.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Good, you?" he replied.

"I'm good, enjoying the planet?" she asked.

"Oh yes, I was lucky enough to get down here yesterday as well." Skeeter replied.

"How's life on the Starburst?" Bojay asked.

"Good thanks," he replied, "It's nice to finally get to live a little."

The mood on Orion like with the rest of the fleet was good. The hanger deck was bustling with life, people going about their jobs as well as shuttles and ships coming and going from the planet. Archangel sat in his viper running through the ships systems and tweaking them to make his ship more responsive. He had been trying to get this viper so it reacted the same as his bird on Atlantia, but there were still a few things that just didn't feel right.

"Everything alright in there?"

Archangel looked up and saw Commander Garrett smiling at him.

"Yeah getting there." He replied.

"You're not going down to the planet?" she asked walking up the ladder leading to the cockpit.

"No, I've had just about enough of planets to last me a while." He replied, "You?"

"I'm going to head down tomorrow, I'm actually really looking forward to it." She replied with a smile.

Archangel smiled back, "Good I'm sure you'll have a great time."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, "How are you holding up?"

Archangel looked up at her, "Better." He replied, "You?"

"Coping. I was wondering if you wanted to get together this evening for a drink and chat?" she asked.

"Sure. I'll look forward to it." He replied with a smile.

Things never seemed to get any easier for the new President. First the Commander's death, now the disgrace of five members of the newly elected Quorum of twelve. The only comfort he felt in this was that he hadn't hand picked them himself, the people had put them in power, and he just needed to be seen to clean up the mess in a way that appeased the people. The seven remaining members of the Quorum sat around the table with him.

"The replacements should be ready to join you all within the next few days," the president said.

"Do we know yet where this information came from?" James Cooper the representative for Leonis asked.

"No, but due to the nature of some of it, it was bound to come out eventually. The press have asked for interviews with the five former members, I have declined on their behalf." Milo replied.

"Might it be better if they do give an interview?" Cooper asked.

"I don't believe it would. Miss Barker has already informed me of her embarrassment from what has happened. This was something she did a long time ago and she had hoped it would stay hidden in her past. Anyway I think we should move on from this. The topic of colonisation of the planet seems to be coming up a lot which comes as no surprise to any of us I'm sure." Milo said, changing the subject.

"I think we should push for it." Sandra Walker, representative of Geminon replied.

"Personally I think that would be a bad idea." Taylor Wilkins Sagittaron's representative added.

"I have to agree with Mr Wilkins. Commander Garrett thinks that it would be unwise as well. The Cylons are finding us too often at the moment to think it would even be wise. This is a rest stop. Nothing more." Milo replied.

"The people of the fleet disagree Mr President." Walker replied.

"Well, it's the people of the fleet I'm thinking about. The Commander and I both agree that would be a bad move so we will be under way once we have all the supplies we can carry." Milo retorted.

"This NCO leaflet is telling people they want to find them a planet as soon as possible, they're going to rear their heads now we've found somewhere." Walker said.

Skeeter was enjoying being on the planet far longer than he had expected. He sat in the civilian camp enjoying a cup of coffee. There were dozens of other people around him all enjoying the planet the same as him. As he took a sip from his drink he smiled at a young woman who walked past, who totally ignored him. He chuckled to himself. As the woman turned and faced the man she had been walking with, Skeeter noticed the handle of a gun under her jacket. Skeeter looked around and noticed a few more people he hadn't seen before and the handle of another gun under someone else's jacket. After putting down his coffee he got up and quickly left the area. What the frak was going on he wondered? It could be nothing, just people who had taken it upon themselves to carry weapons, or it could be something else. A large explosion suddenly rocked the whole camp, knocking Skeeter off his feet, as he hit the ground his head hit a rock, knocking him out cold.

"What the frak?!" Bojay said as they heard and then saw the explosion. As both pilots got to their feet to find out what had happened, they were surrounded by armed men and women.

"Don't fraking move or you're both dead." One of the men shouted as both pilots were relieved of their sidearms.

"I demand you tell me what is going on?" Bojay ordered.

The man closest to him smacked Bojay in the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

"You're in no position to demand anything Captain." The man replied.

A young woman stepped forward out of the group.

"Follow us, behave and you'll both be fine." She said with a smile.

Commander Garrett stood on the CIC signing some paper work. She was looking forward to heading down to the planets surface later on, she smiled to herself as she imagined the feel of the sun on her skin. As she handed a young Ensign the signed paperwork the speakers on the CIC crackled to life.

"People of the fleet I am the representative of the New Colonial Order. We have decided that it is now time that we reveal ourselves."

"Lieutenant Taylor what the frak is going on?" Garrett asked.

"I've no idea ma'am, I can't figure out where this is coming from and I can't block it." She replied.

"The civilian population of the fleet have nothing to fear from us. We only want what is best for you, we want you to be free and not under the control of the office of the president and the colonial military. We have taken control of the planet and the people here are under our protection. We demand a face-to-face meeting with President Milo Vents so that we can discuss his immediate resignation and control of the fleet being handed over to you the people. The President has one hour to reply, we will message him back via the Battlestar Orion. If he does not speak with us we will execute one of the military prisoners we have on the planet. If any shuttles or ships come down to the planet we will execute a military prisoner."

"Commander we have the president on the line." Lt. Taylor said.

"Put him through down here." She replied.

"You heard all that?" Milo asked.

"Yes sir, I want all civilian ships out of the system with the Gunstars." Vanessa replied.

"Very well Commander I'll defer to you. I'm going to head over to you straight away." Milo said.

"Yes sir, we have to discuss what we are going to do." Vanessa said.

As the fleet began to jump out of the system, Scud received the recall to bring the nuggets home.

"Okay guys we're going to have to call it a day and head back in," he said, "Form up on me and we'll head back."

The nuggets all turned to head out of the asteroids.

"Down to the military dictatorship." They heard over the COM. Before Scud could even react one of the people he thought was a nugget opened fire on him hitting his engine. The Viper exploded into a ball of flames killing the pilot instantly.

"Oh frak, Scud is dead!" one of the nuggets screamed over the COM, "Orion one of the other nuggets killed Scud."

The NCO who had been pretending to be a nugget turned on the others killing two more of them straight away. The other nuggets turned off their safeties and tried to remember all they had been taught and attempted to engage the rogue pilot. One by one the nuggets were taken down until there were only two left. As one of the pilots closed her eyes and prepared for the end the CAP arrived and took out the NCO.

"Nuggets are you okay?" Wedge asked over the COM.

"Y…Y…yes sir." Came the reply.

"Orion this is Wedge, rogue pilot taken down, there are only two nuggets left." He said.

"Bring them back in." Colonel Rae replied.

On Orion's CIC tensions were high after what had happened. As Archangel walked on deck the Commander immediately met him.

"Did you hear what happened?" she asked.

Archangel nodded, "Mother fraker killed Scud."

"Wedge took him out, but he only managed to save two of the nuggets." She replied.

"Son of a bitch." He replied.

"I want a strike mission onto the planet. I want all these NCOs dealt with."

"When you say dealt with?" he replied.

She looked at him, "You know what I mean."

"Yes ma'am, I'll have options ready for you within the hour." He replied turning and walking away.

As Skeeter came round the first thing he noticed was the ringing in his ears. He remembered the explosion and rubbed his head. He looked up and saw there was no one about. He took a few deep breaths and got to his feet. He staggered on the spot for a moment before walking away from the camp. When he reached the tree line he could see the civilians and the military had been taken captive. He walked a little further and saw the Raptor, there didn't appear to be anyone there. As he neared it he saw he had been right, it was empty. While no one was watching he darted inside and opened one of the side compartments. He took out a side arm and its holster as well as a rifle and extra magazines. Before he turned to leave, he noticed a radio and took that too. After strapping the holster to his leg he carefully checked outside, there was still no one looking. He darted back outside and into the tree line, back out of sight. He looked down at the radio, he racked his brain to try and remember how it worked, and the last thing he wanted was the enemy to hear him.

The President was led onto the CIC.

"Commander I was sorry to hear about your men." He said.

"Is there any indication at all as to where these NCO came from?" she replied.

"No, the leaflets appeared and no one seems to know where from." Milo answered.

"This isn't good enough, somebody has to have seen something." Vanessa snapped in reply.

"I've requested that the Captains of all the ships check through any camera footage to see what they can find." Milo said.

Garrett looked pissed off, he could tell that she wasn't happy at all.

"Commander, I have Skeeter on the line, he is requesting to speak with you." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Tell him now isn't a good time." She replied.

"You may want to take this Commander, he says he's on the surface." She replied.

"Put him through down here. Mr President, Colonel." They all picked up a phone and listened.

"Skeeter are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes Commander, I'm on the planet and I don't think they know I'm here." He replied.

"Skeeter this is the President what happened?" Milo asked.

"I'm not sure. I noticed people with guns. I went to get Bojay but there was an explosion and I was knocked out cold. When I came too everyone had been taken captive. I managed to get to Bojay's Raptor and arm myself and get this radio." Skeeter replied.

"Okay Skeeter, I want you to stay out of sight but, I need you to try and get positions of the enemy and how many there are. If they find you do not engage them. Archangel is putting together a rescue plan, stay on stand by and we'll be back in touch." Garrett said.

"Yes Commander, I'll see what I can do." Skeeter replied.

After he went of the line Garrett smiled.

"Do you trust him?" Milo asked.

"Yes, absolutely." she replied, "Archangel trusts him with his life so that is more than good enough for me."

Bojay and Bria sat in a tent with a group of other captives. Bojay spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You okay?" Bria asked.

"Yeah, I've had worse." He replied.

"You have to do something." Captain Raymond Smith said to them.

"We're not going to do anything for now. We're unarmed and we don't know how many of them there are." Bojay replied.

"Fine if you don't do something then I will." Raymond replied.

"Stay where you are and shut the frak up," Bojay ordered, "Or you'll get us all killed."

"You had your chance fly boy." Raymond said standing up and walking to the front of the tent. As he looked outside someone knocked him on the ground. Maggie Tolan, the woman who had taken Bojay and Bria walked in flanked by two other men.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Someone has to stop you." Raymond replied.

She laughed at him, "Trust me honey you're not that person." She raised her weapon and shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

There were screams from around the tent.

"Anyone else who decides they want to try and stop us this is what will happen to you." She said with a smile.

They walked back outside, leaving the body in the tent.

"Everyone you need to stay calm." Bojay said, "This situation will be dealt with and we'll all be home before you know it. As long as we stay calm then everything will be fine."

The others in the tent didn't seem very reassured by Bojay's words.

"Did you see Skeeter when they were rounding everyone up?" Bria asked quietly.

Bojay shook his head, "No, I'm just hoping they didn't find him."

"We need to cover the body, they're not going to calm down with him," Bojay grimaced and pointed to the body, "Looking like that."

Skeeter lay in the undergrowth looking through a pair of binoculars. He had counted at least twenty people so far. He had been looking for Bojay and Bria but so far hadn't seen them. He reached for his radio, moments later he heard Lt. Taylor on the other end.

"This is Skeeter I'm calling with an update." He said quietly.

"I'll put you through to the Commander now." Came the reply.

He waited for a few moments before he heard Garrett, "Orion Actual, Skeeter are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to let you know that so far I have seen at least twenty bad guys. They appear to have the civilians in tents, I can't see what's going on. I did hear a gunshot a few minutes ago." Skeeter replied.

"Did you see what happened?" she replied.

"No, a gunshot then a lot of screams. Sorry I couldn't see." Skeeter said.

"Okay," she replied, "We will be getting back in touch with you very soon with details of a rescue mission."

"I'll keep watch till then." He replied.

Archangel walked onto CIC with a plan ready for approval, before he could speak the representative's voice came in over the con.

"Is the President there?" he asked.

Milo picked up one of the handsets, "Yes I'm here."

"Good. We demand a face to face meeting with you to discuss terms of your immediate resignation and turning over of the fleet to the people."

"You really think I should trust you after what just happened to some of Orion's pilots?" Milo replied.

"We are unaware of anything that has happened." He replied.

"One of your men murdered one of Orion's squadron leaders and several new recruits." Milo replied.

"That is unfortunate Mr Vents. No one had instructed anyone to do that. Whoever did this was working on their own."

"I find that hard to believe." Milo said, utter loathing in his voice.

"I don't care what you think. You have one hour to come down to the planet and hold discussions or we will execute a hostage starting with Captain Johnson. The clock is ticking, Milo." The line went dead.

"Tell me you have a rescue plan Major?" Garrett asked.

"Yes ma'am I do but it is risky." He replied.

"What is it?" Milo asked.

"Well we can't risk putting a Raptor in the atmosphere as the sonic boom will alert them to our presence. I want to put three Raptors above the upper atmosphere and then the rescue teams will jump and land here." He said pointing to a hilly area on the map he brought, "When we're on the ground we will quickly make our way to the camp and eliminate all the hostiles." Archangel said.

"Can you guarantee there won't be any civilian casualties?" Milo asked.

"No sir I can't, but right now this is the only option we have other than you going down to the planet and talking to him." Archangel replied.

"That's not an option." Garrett said, "How long before you can be in the air?"

"Ten minutes," Archangel replied, "I hope you don't mind but I took the decision to get teams of marines ready, I just need to kit up."

"You're going as well? Surely the marines can handle this." Rae said.

"Yes ma'am I am going." Archangel replied.

"Very well," Garrett said, "Run with it."

"Yes ma'am." Archangel replied.

"Good hunting." Milo said.

"Thank you sir." Archangel replied before turning to leave the CIC.

"Lieutenant Taylor please inform Skeeter of the plan and tell him where the teams will be jumping in." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

Maggie Tolan walked into the tent where Mika Thorne aka "The Representative" sat. He looked nervous.

"How did the call go?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know." Mika replied, "I have no idea if the President is going to come down or not."

"Well, we will know in an hour." She replied, "Listen whatever happens now, the Twelve will be pleased, you followed their orders to the letter."

"Yeah." He replied putting his head into his hands.

She looked at him for a few moments, she had known him over ten years and she knew there was more than she was being told.

"Mika tell me these were the Twelve's orders?" she said.

He looked up and shook his head, "No they're not."

Maggie was stunned, "What? But you said."

"I was taking the initiative." Mika told her.

"Taking the initiative? Are you for fraking real? Do you know who the Twelve are? Do you know the kind of people they were before the attack?" she yelled.

"Yes of course I do." He replied.

"Then exactly what part of your fraking brain told you this was a good idea? We're fraking dead. Either the military or the Twelve, one or the other. You mother fraking MORON." she screamed.

"Calm the frak down." He said standing up.

"Gods I hope it's the military." She said to herself.

"CALM THE FRAK DOWN!" he screamed slapping her so hard she fell to the ground. Rage built in her quickly and she got back to her feet with her gun in her hand. He put his hands up and backed off a little.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"You don't know the meaning of the word. Do the others know?" she asked.

Mika shook his head, "No, this was all me."

"Then I pray that me killing you will prove to the Twelve I had nothing to do with planning this." Maggie said, her frantic tone calming a little at the decision.

"What? You're not going to kill me, I love you and you love me." he replied, "After all we've been through together? You know I've got your back, I always have had and I always will."

"No, you're trying to kill me." She pulled the trigger shooting him in the heart. He fell down dead.

People ran in from outside.

"What the frak?!" One of the guards shouted.

"He screwed us." Maggie said.

"What are you talking about?" he replied.

"This job wasn't ordered by the twelve, he took this on himself." Maggie revealed.

Archangel boarded the last raptor ready for the jump. Vannick who was already waiting, moved over to him.

"You sure this is going to work?" Vannick asked.

"Sure," Archangel replied with a smile, almost sounding confident, "You ever jumped from this high up before?"

"Not quite, I take it you have?" Vannick asked.

"Not quite, but I've seen it done. Lt. let's get up in the air." He said as the hatch closed.

Vannick was lost for words. The Raptors moved out and were taken up to the launch bay. Minutes later they were flying out into space. It didn't take them long to make it into the planets orbit. Everyone seemed nervous as the hatches began to open. Things were about to get very hot with only their suits to protect them. They had been designed to take this amount of punishment but only a handful of people had managed to be able to do the jump since they had been created. Archangel was the first person to jump out, everyone else followed him. This was one of the biggest rushes Archangel had ever felt, it was incredible.

"Wahoo!" he screamed as he plummeted through the small planets atmosphere. He was moving with such speeds, this felt utterly exhilarating. Beneath him, he could see nothing but clouds. Then in the blink of an eye they were gone and in its place, the planet below.

Skeeter began to make his way to the meeting point. He lit a cigarette as he walked. It reminded him of being on Caprica, he found himself expecting a centurion to jump out at any moment. As he took a drag he found himself face to face with one of the NCO. Both men seemed surprised and for a split second they just stood looking at each other. Skeeter dropped his cigarette and went for his side arm. Before he could draw it, the other man dived on him. Both men fell to the ground and Skeeter was dazed by a punch to the face. He tried to ignore the sting and pulled up his arms to defend his face from another attack. Skeeter kneed the man in the back, which made him fall to the ground. He moved as quickly as he could and got to his feet, he took a step backwards and took out his gun, but not before the NCO did and shot Skeeter in the chest. He dropped his weapon and fell to his knees as he looked down at the blood pouring from his chest. Immediately he knew it was bad, he looked up at the gun pointing at him and smiled, he could die here with the sun beating down on him. He closed his eyes and despite the pain took a deep breath.

"I'm coming Danny." He said quietly to himself then he heard the shot he had been waiting for, but no bullet hit him. He opened his eyes and saw Archangel and a group of marines running over to him. The man who had shot him lay on a heap in the floor with a bullet wound in the back of his head. Skeeter slumped backwards onto the ground as Archangel reached him.

"Hey." Skeeter said quietly.

"Hey you hang on in there." Archangel replied as two of the medics began to cut of Skeeter's shirt.

"It's okay," Skeeter said, "I can die here."

"Well I'm not going to let you." Archangel replied.

One of the medics turned to him, "We need a Raptor or a shuttle to get here ASAP."

Archangel took the radio from his belt, "Orion this is Archangel come in."

"Archangel this is Orion." Taylor replied.

"We have a man down and I need a raptor to head to the surface right away. Tell the Representative the President is coming down anything, but I need that Raptor here now." Archangel replied.

"Archangel this is Garrett how bad is it?" she asked.

"Very, Skeeter has been shot in the chest. Send the Raptor, by the time they realise it's not the president it will be over, they won't know what hit them." Archangel replied.

There was a pause, which seemed like an eternity, "They're on their way." Vanessa said.

"Thank you, we'll be at the camp shortly." He put his radio back on his belt, "You two stay here and make sure he doesn't die. The rest of you, quick and silent I want them all dead." He walked over to Skeeter, "Buddy these guys are going to patch you up, you'll be back on Orion before you know it and the Doc will have you as good as new. I'll see you soon."

Skeeter smiled and took his friends hand for a moment before they all moved away.

"What the frak are we going to do?" Maggie said.

"Okay how many of these people know our faces?" Kyle Jones replied.

"The ones in the tent with the pilots." Maggie replied.

"So we put them down and then merge into the crowd." Kyle replied.

Maggie took a deep breath, "Let's do it." She said.

They walked out of the tent they were in and walked the short distance to the captives. As soon as they walked in, Bojay knew something was wrong, he like the others had heard the gunshot. He could tell by the look on Maggie's face things were beginning to fall apart.

Archangel and Vannick moved quickly on the two armed men who hadn't seen them and fired with their silenced pistols. killing the two men instantly. Silently they kept moving, unseen by anyone else. Archangel pointed to the tent nearest to them where he could hear a commotion and Bojay's voice clearly through the chaos. Vannick nodded and followed him.

"You kill us and Orion won't stop till you're dead." Bojay said.

"You're no one in the scheme of things, just some Raptor pilot, no one is going to miss you Captain Johnson." Kyle said raising his weapon. Bojay almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Archangel and Vannick appear behind the two NCO. Neither man waited to give the enemy the chance of getting the upper hand and fired killing Kyle and Maggie instantly. The civilians began to get to their feet.

"Everyone my name is Major Hunter, I'm from Orion, please you all need to stay here while we secure the area. You are all safe now."

Bojay gave a smile as he walked over to his friend.

"Am I glad to see you two." Bojay said.

"Likewise." Archangel said handing Bojay one of his sidearms and Bria his rifle, "Stay put and end any NCO who come this way. Radio up to Orion and let them know what's going on."

"Will do." Bojay replied taking his radio.

As Archangel and Vannick left the tent all hell broke loose and a fierce firefight broke out around them.

Garrett paced along the CIC, she hated not knowing what was going on. The President and Colonel Rae stood with her on the deck, none of them spoke, they all wanted to know what exactly was going on and patience in this kind of situation was hard to come by for all of them. Lt. Taylor broke the silence.

"CIC." She said, all eyes turned to her, "Copy that, keep us appraised." She looked up at the Commander, "That was Shakespeare ma'am they've, broken through the atmosphere and will be on the ground in five minutes."

Now things were tenser. Had Archangel and his team of marines got to the camp in time, the next few minutes would tell.

"CIC." She said again, "Putting you through Captain. Commander I have Bojay on the horn."

Seconds later his voice and the sounds of gunfire could be heard across the speakers.

"This is Bojay. Archangel is here and he and the marines are neutralising the NCO, we are okay, repeat we are okay."

"That's excellent news Captain." She replied.

"Please repeat your last I can barely here you over the gunfire." He replied.

"Call us back when the whole area is secured." She said.

"Copy that." He replied.

The tension on the CIC hadn't been alleviated.

"It'll all be okay." Milo said.

"I hope so." Rae replied.

All the rest of the NCO seemed to be cornered in one specific area and the marines had them surrounded.

"All of you, you have ten seconds to surrender or we will kill you all." Archangel yelled.

There was silence for a few moments.

"The NCO will prevail over the corrupt military." A voice shouted before several gunshots were heard, and then nothing, as the echoes of the gunshots died away there was silence. Archangel looked over at Vannick who shrugged. Holding his sidearm tightly and stood up and walked towards where the NCO had been. He holstered his weapon when he saw what had happened. The seven remaining NCOs had killed themselves.

"It's all over." Archangel called out.

Vannick and the other marines walked over and saw what had happened.

"What the frak?!" He said.

"Maybe they were under orders not to be taken prisoner." Archangel replied, "Can I borrow your radio?"

Vannick handed it to him. "Orion this is Archangel the camp is secure, the remaining NCO killed themselves instead of being taken prisoner."

"Good work Major." The President said.

"Be on standby, shuttles and Raptors will be heading to the surface to take everyone home." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am. Is there any news on Skeeter?" Archangel asked. They could all hear the worry and fear in his voice.

"The Raptor is on its way back to Orion as we speak, he is still alive." Vanessa replied.

"Thank the gods." Archangel said in relief.

As soon as they were back on Orion, Bria, Vannick and Archangel went to sickbay as quickly as they could. When they arrived Annie Fry one of the ships medics met them.

"Any news?" Bria asked.

"He's still in surgery," Annie replied, "He'll be in there for a while, the bullet has done a lot of damage to his left lung. We'll let you know as soon as he is out."

"Can we wait?" Archangel replied.

"Of course." She replied.

They sat in the waiting area. Archangel found himself silently praying for Skeeter's survival. This was the first time he had prayed in as long as he could remember. He couldn't lose another person he loved. He knew he had to hold it together. He looked over at Bria and Vannick who also looked very worried. They had all been through a lot together on the Colonies and it had brought them closer.

Milo Vents walked out onto the stage to give another press conference. He longed for the day when he would be giving good news, today however wasn't going to be one of those days.

"Ladies and gentlemen, people of the fleet, by now I'm sure you have all heard what happened on the planet today. Once again I am here to give you the facts. A terrorist group called the New Colonial Order took the civilians and military on the surface by force. At the same time a member of this terrorist group posing as a new recruit to Orion's viper wing murdered six other new recruits, as well as one of the squadron leaders, Lieutenant Mac Jennis. These murders as well as that of Captain Raymond Smith of the Mussa Sala were all done in the name of "freedom". I have authorized Commander Garrett to hunt down and put a stop to this New Colonial Order, we will not stand idly by any more while good people, while innocent people are hurt and killed by these thugs. I urge you the people of the fleet to be vigilant, if you know anything, if you have seen anything please get in contact with us before it is too late. They claim that they want to hand the fleet over to the people, to make sure you have a safe place to live, to give you back your freedoms, but I am here to tell you that people who want these things do not take actions like this. Your freedom has never been in question, we strive every day to keep you all alive and to find us all a new place to call home…."

Before Milo could say anything more static came over the speakers and a different voice took over, one which had been altered to keep its owners anonymity secure.

"Now it's my turn to speak," the voice said, "My name is Mr Caprica and I am one of the Twelve who make up the New Colonial Order. The first thing I want to tell you is that we are not terrorists. We are not responsible for the things that happened today. The people who did these terrible things were not part of the New Colonial Order, they use our name to do these things, to tarnish the goals we strive for. It is our greatest sorrow that people died today, that these lives were taken in our name. We hope and pray to the gods that the injured people currently being treated survive. I must reiterate that we are not terrorists and we do have your best interests at heart. We want the presidency and the current government to step down so that you the people can have a more direct say in what happens day to day. It was unfortunate that we had to show the dark and insipid pasts of some members of the Quorum of Twelve, but we did it to show you the type of people who you have in these top positions. Whether it was the drugs shame of the delegate for Canceron or the previous work the delegate for Libran did in the porn industries of Virgon, these things should be known by you, the people. We, the Twelve were going to reveal ourselves to you when we left the planetary system, but these terrible crimes committed in our name have forced us to stay hidden, for now, for fear of retribution by the people in the fleet who will not believe what I am telling you right now. In time, once we have proven ourselves to be worthy of your trust, we will reveal ourselves and we will show you the way to your salvation but for now, live well and be safe."

As Skeeter came round he had expected to be in more pain than he was, then he realised that it must be pain medication the doctor must have given him. He looked down and saw a dressing on his chest as well as the faint outline of blood coming through it. Doctor Hammond smiled down at him when she saw him come around.

"Hey there." She said.

"Hey." He replied groggily.

"You gave us quite a scare."

"Am I going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yes you are, but it's going to take you a while to get over your injuries. Your left lung sustained a lot of damage from the bullet, but I've managed to patch you up. I don't suggest you try to take any deep breaths right now, as it will hurt like hell. I also have to tell you that you're going to have to quit smoking."

"Frak," he said, "Seriously?"

"Yes, the damage you sustained to your lung as I say is very serious and any more smoking would cause a lot of damage and over the short term would probably kill you. The good news is that by the time you get out of here, you'll be over any cravings and it should all be out of your system. Along with the painkillers I'm giving you, I've added a little something that should help to suppress those cravings. You're a lucky man Skeeter, the gods must be looking out for you." Hammond said.

"More like an Archangel." He replied.

"Speaking of which you have some people here who are all very keen on seeing you." The doc said. As she stepped away Archangel, Vannick and Bria appeared.

"I know as kids we always wanted the same toys and stuff, but I've got to draw the line at matching scars." Archangel said with a smile.

"Trust me that's one thing you could have kept for yourself." Skeeter replied, "Did you get them all?"

"We sure did buddy and everyone is back safely aboard." Vannick replied.

"That's good." Skeeter said, "Thank you for saving my worthless ass, again!"

"I've told you before, you never have to say thank you. You're my brother."

Colonel Rae stood on duty on the CIC, she was glad things were starting to get back to some kind of normalcy.

"Colonel I have the XO of the Starburst on the horn, they've found three dead bodies on different parts of the ship and they are requesting someone from Orion to come over." Taylor said.

"Tell them we'll be in touch shortly and get the Commander. Why can nothing ever be smooth sailing around here?" Rae said.